Madelung equations 2026-10-07
Writing the wavefunction in modulus and dimensionless quantum phase gives a probability continuity equation and a Hamilton-Jacobi equation with a quantum potential:
The phase equations hold locally away from wavefunction nodes. They follow by equating real and imaginary parts of the Time-dependent Schrodinger equation.
For unit mass and , this prepoint kernel tends to the identity and generates the Time-dependent Schrodinger equation. The square-root branch follows the damped Fresnel integral. Its normalized moments are , , and at orders zero, one and two; these fix both the normalization and the kinetic sign.
Use the dimensionless quantum phase , so that with . Work locally away from wavefunction nodes, where and are differentiable. Differentiating the wavefunction for substitution in the Time-dependent Schrodinger equation gives:
Cancel in the time-dependent equation and equate real and imaginary parts. The resulting Madelung equations are
The second equation is a Hamilton-Jacobi equation for the action , with an additional quantum potential. To see the meaning of the first, multiply it by and set . It becomes the probability continuity equation
Thus the probability density is transported by the velocity field . The Madelung equations are a local rewriting of the linear wave equation; their apparent nonlinearity comes from expressing a complex wavefunction in modulus and phase variables.
Use the prepoint prescription for the separable Hamiltonian. Its regulated exponent is
Each momentum integration is an ordinary Gaussian integral:
Therefore the measure written in the question gives exactly
The resulting configuration integral is . This is Gaussian momentum integration in a phase-space path integral. Formally its exponent tends to the usual Euclidean kinetic-plus-potential action, but the slice-dependent factors in the measure must be retained.
For a normalized quantum-mechanical propagator, Fourier completeness uses rather than . With that normalization the configuration measure is
This differs from the raw measure by . It makes the free single-step kernel integrate to one and tend to a delta distribution as the interval tends to zero. In these formulas is fixed and are integrated for propagation from an initial wavefunction. If both endpoints are fixed, omit while retaining its slice normalization factor. The continuum expression means the limit of these measures and exponents, not a flat product of with no time-step weights.
We now address the unheaded real-time continuation. Set . The normalized short-time Schrödinger kernel gives the final-slice recurrence
The square-root branch is fixed by the usual damped Fresnel integral, or continuation from the Euclidean kernel. The hint's contains the essential time-step dependence; the constant fixes the identity limit and is included at every step.
Put . The normalized oscillatory Gaussian has moments
Taylor-expand the smooth wavefunction and the potential over one short step. Odd moments vanish, and potential-derivative corrections first contribute at order . Thus
Subtract the initial value, divide by and take the limit:
This proves the Time-dependent Schrodinger equation by the Schrödinger equation from a short-time path integral argument. Nonuniform partitions give the same limit when their largest time step tends to zero.
The Born rule and probability current in one dimension give
Multiply the Time-dependent Schrodinger equation by , subtract its complex conjugate multiplied by , and rearrange to obtain the continuity equation .
For the stated superposition, the interference terms in are real and cancel from its imaginary part. Hence
independent of and .
Expand the state in the energy eigenstates of as
Substitution into the Time-dependent Schrodinger equation and projection onto gives the exact interaction picture equations
In first-order time-dependent perturbation theory, put on the right-hand side and integrate from to :
For a uniform electric field, the electric-dipole interaction is up to an irrelevant overall sign. The supplied hydrogen atom wavefunctions give
For , the time integral is
The long-time transition fraction is consequently
Both and have even parity, whereas is odd, so the electric-dipole selection rule gives . Thus the requested fraction in is zero.
The Time-dependent Schrodinger equation for the one-dimensional Quantum harmonic oscillator is
A stationary state has , so cancellation of the common time factor gives
Set
The equation becomes
With ,
and hence obeys the Hermite differential equation
If is monic of degree , the coefficient of in this equation is . It must vanish, so
Writing gives the recurrence
The coefficient of first gives , and the recurrence preserves parity. If is even, every odd coefficient vanishes, so is an even function. The Gaussian factor is also even; therefore the stationary state has even parity.
The one-dimensional Time-dependent Schrodinger equation for a wavefunction in a real potential is
Multiplying this equation by , multiplying its complex conjugate by , and subtracting gives the probability continuity equation
If and its first derivative decay sufficiently rapidly as , then the probability current vanishes at both ends. Integrating the continuity equation and using the fundamental theorem of calculus yields
This conservation of quantum probability is required by the Born rule: once a normalizable wavefunction has total probability one, its time evolution must preserve that normalization.
For the stated Gaussian wave packet, put . Since
its squared modulus is
The Gaussian integral then gives
which is independent of time, as required.
For the one-dimensional quantum harmonic oscillator,
This is the Time-dependent Schrodinger equation with harmonic potential.
Expand the normalized initial wavefunction in the orthonormal energy basis:
The Time-dependent Schrodinger equation then gives the unitary time evolution
The Time-dependent Schrodinger equation is . Differentiate , use the equation and its adjoint, and include explicit time dependence of the operator. This gives Ehrenfest theorem
Insert the stated expansion into the Time-dependent Schrodinger equation
When the derivative acts on each free phase, its energy factor is cancelled by the action of on the corresponding eigenstate. The remaining terms obey
Division by gives
Expand a smooth wavefunction and potential in the normalized short-time Schrödinger kernel. Its odd moment vanishes and its second moment is , so one step changes the wavefunction by . Division by the time step gives the Time-dependent Schrodinger equation.